


For Want of a Family

by unfolded73



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Fluff, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-13
Updated: 2009-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:22:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21787456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unfolded73/pseuds/unfolded73
Summary: In an AU where Ten II and Rose stayed on the TARDIS with Ten, Rose thinks about the choice she made to leave her family.
Relationships: Tenth Doctor/Metacrisis Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Kudos: 9





	For Want of a Family

**Author's Note:**

> Notes when originally published, December 13, 2009: Written for mitashade, who made an absolutely gorgeous header for fid_gin at my request. She didn't ask for fluff in particular, but that is what she got. 
> 
> Notes today: Making one more push to archive all the stray fics that I never posted here because I saw my word count was approaching 800,000, and it was making me crazy.

The two of them lay still together afterwards, breathing together in the dark. Rose could almost trick herself into imagining it was a normal bedroom in a normal house, a house with doors and carpets, if she closed her eyes and focused on the slide of the sheets against her skin, or on the heat of the (mostly) human man beside her. In another reality, that's exactly what they might have had: normal. It was only their shouting and screaming and stubbornness that had prevented it. Now Rose opened her eyes, looking up at the ceiling that was not normal at all, at the coral supports that arched over her head and twinkled with tiny faery lights. She adjusted her breathing to match the rhythm of the alien ship that surrounded them. It had been several weeks, and at moments like this she still felt overwhelmed with her good fortune. Except when she was overwhelmed with guilt.

"I left all this dirty laundry back at my flat," she said out loud.

The part-human Doctor turned his head and looked at her with an arched eyebrow. "What?"

"At my flat in the other universe. I'd been working eighteen-hour days, sometimes longer, and I had all this dirty laundry that had piled up. And the last time I left it, I thought, one way or another I'm not going to have to face this dirty laundry again. Isn't that awful? I wasn't thinking about Mum or Dad or Tony, I was thinking that if I died in an interdimensional struggle for the existence of everything, I wouldn't have to do the washing."

He rolled over now to face her, his hand coming up to stroke her bare arm. "You thought you were going to die?"

"I thought it was a distinct possibility. I mean, I hoped I'd find you again, and I hoped I'd end up back here," she said, gesturing around. "But I knew what the stakes were, and that I might not survive." The Doctor pulled her into a tight embrace, as if the mere thought of her dying -- no, of her having thought that she _might have died_ \-- was enough to make him cling on for dear life. After several moments of silence, Rose added, "I'm a terribly selfish person."

"It was a stray thought, Rose. It doesn't mean you were actually more interested in the washing than in your little brother. Quite the contrary."

"No, you're right." This was the first time she'd been able to talk about her family, about leaving them behind. It felt good, like she was finally beginning to unburden herself a little. "It hurts to think about them. Mostly I just don't, because it hurts," she admitted.

"Are you sorry we didn't go back there?" he asked, and she felt him swallow.

" _We?_ " Rose pulled away to look him in the eye. "You really would have gone with me?" She knew that was what the Time Lord had intended at first, but she didn't know if this Doctor would have agreed, had there been no other choice.

"Of course," he said, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. 

"No," Rose finally said. "I miss them, and I wish I hadn't had to choose. But no. This ship is my home." 

As if on cue, the door to the bedroom opened and the Time Lord strode in. "Thought you'd both be asleep," he commented as he loosened his tie. 

"Thought you'd be working on the dematerialisation circuit," his duplicate rejoined, propping his head up on his bent arm. 

Her first Doctor regarded them for a beat. "It was too quiet, in the control room on my own."

Rose smiled indulgently at him. "C'mere then."

He didn't have to be told twice, although he took care with his suit as he removed it, smoothing out the wrinkles and draping it over a chair. It was an interesting contrast, as differences between them often were, to the blue suit that lay crumpled on the floor on the other side of the room. Eventually he crawled in bed next to Rose, curling against her backside and kissing the back of her neck. "Missed you," he murmured. She wasn't sure if he was talking about the last few hours or the last few years.

"What about me?" asked the other Doctor cheekily, prompting an exasperated sound from the Doctor behind her.

"I'm sure he missed you too," Rose answered, grinning. It was, at times, an uneasy alliance between the two of them. Other times, Rose found herself experiencing an unexpected stab of jealousy at how close they were. There was, after all, no one who could know the Doctor better than his metacrisis.

The Time Lord seemed content to hold her. After a minute his hand drifted over, resting on the other Doctor's arm. Closing her eyes, Rose imagined she could almost feel a current of ... _something_ passing between the two men. Perhaps it was a form of telepathy, communication that her entirely human brain couldn't encompass. But instead of making her jealous, she found herself only feeling warm and content and loved. Maybe she was more telepathic than she realised.

"This is my family now," she whispered. The part-human Doctor kissed the top of her head, and the Doctor behind her tightened his grip for a moment. Neither of them needed to ask what she meant.


End file.
